SB 65 — DISSOL-INTERIM ATTORNEYS FEES

SB0065 EngrossedEnrolled LRB096 03117 AJO 13133 b AN ACT concerning civil law.

(i) restraining any person from transferring, encumbering, concealing or otherwise disposing of any property except in the usual course of business or for the necessities of life, and, if so restrained, requiring him to notify the moving party and his attorney of any proposed extraordinary expenditures SB0065 EngrossedEnrolled - 2 - LRB096 03117 AJO 13133 b made after the order is issued;

(1) Except for good cause shown, a proceeding for (or relating to) interim attorney's fees and costs in a SB0065 EngrossedEnrolled - 3 - LRB096 03117 AJO 13133 b pre-judgment dissolution proceeding shall be nonevidentiary, and summary in nature, and expeditious.

(E) the standard of living established during the SB0065 EngrossedEnrolled - 4 - LRB096 03117 AJO 13133 b marriage;

Unless otherwise ordered by the court at the final hearing between the parties or in a hearing under subsection (j) of Section 503 or subsection (c) of Section 508, interim awards, as well as the aggregate of all other payments by each party to counsel and related payments to third parties, shall be deemed to have been advances from SB0065 EngrossedEnrolled - 5 - LRB096 03117 AJO 13133 b the parties' marital estate.

If the court finds that both parties lack financial ability or access to assets or income for reasonable attorney's fees and costs, the court (or hearing officer) shall enter an order that allocates available funds for each party's counsel, including retainers or interim payments, or both, previously paid, in SB0065 EngrossedEnrolled - 6 - LRB096 03117 AJO 13133 b a manner that achieves substantial parity between the parties.

SB0065 EngrossedEnrolled - 7 - LRB096 03117 AJO 13133 b (3) property acquired by a spouse after a judgment of legal separation;

The presumption SB0065 EngrossedEnrolled - 8 - LRB096 03117 AJO 13133 b of marital property is overcome by a showing that the property was acquired by a method listed in subsection (a) of this Section.

(3) For purposes of distribution of property under this SB0065 EngrossedEnrolled - 9 - LRB096 03117 AJO 13133 b Section, all stock options granted to either spouse after the marriage and before a judgment of dissolution of marriage or declaration of invalidity of marriage, whether vested or non-vested or whether their value is ascertainable, are presumed to be marital property.

(1) When marital and non-marital property are commingled by contributing one estate of property into SB0065 EngrossedEnrolled - 10 - LRB096 03117 AJO 13133 b another resulting in a loss of identity of the contributed property, the classification of the contributed property is transmuted to the estate receiving the contribution, subject to the provisions of paragraph (2) of this subsection;

SB0065 EngrossedEnrolled - 11 - LRB096 03117 AJO 13133 b (d) In a proceeding for dissolution of marriage or declaration of invalidity of marriage, or in a proceeding for disposition of property following dissolution of marriage by a court which lacked personal jurisdiction over the absent spouse or lacked jurisdiction to dispose of the property, the court shall assign each spouse's non-marital property to that spouse.

(6) any obligations and rights arising from a prior SB0065 EngrossedEnrolled - 12 - LRB096 03117 AJO 13133 b marriage of either party;

(f) In a proceeding for dissolution of marriage or declaration of invalidity of marriage or in a proceeding for disposition of property following dissolution of marriage by a court that lacked personal jurisdiction over the absent spouse or lacked jurisdiction to dispose of the property, the court, in determining the value of the marital and non-marital SB0065 EngrossedEnrolled - 13 - LRB096 03117 AJO 13133 b property for purposes of dividing the property, shall value the property as of the date of trial or some other date as close to the date of trial as is practicable.

SB0065 EngrossedEnrolled - 14 - LRB096 03117 AJO 13133 b (j) After proofs have closed in the final hearing on all other issues between the parties (or in conjunction with the final hearing, if all parties so stipulate) and before judgment is entered, a party's petition for contribution to fees and costs incurred in the proceeding shall be heard and decided, in accordance with the following provisions:

If either party's presentation on contribution, however, includes evidence within the scope of the attorney-client privilege, the disclosure or disclosures shall be narrowly construed and shall not be deemed by the court to constitute a general waiver of the privilege as to matters SB0065 EngrossedEnrolled - 15 - LRB096 03117 AJO 13133 b beyond the scope of the presentation.

(a) The court from time to time, after due notice and hearing, and after considering the financial resources of the parties, may order any party to pay a reasonable amount for his SB0065 EngrossedEnrolled - 16 - LRB096 03117 AJO 13133 b own or the other party's costs and attorney's fees.

(5) The costs and legal services of an attorney rendered in preparation of the commencement of the SB0065 EngrossedEnrolled - 17 - LRB096 03117 AJO 13133 b proceeding brought under this Act.

If non-compliance is SB0065 EngrossedEnrolled - 18 - LRB096 03117 AJO 13133 b with respect to a discovery order, the non-compliance is presumptively without compelling cause or justification, and the presumption may only be rebutted by clear and convincing evidence.

As to any Petition for Setting Final Fees and Costs against a SB0065 EngrossedEnrolled - 19 - LRB096 03117 AJO 13133 b client or counsel over whom the court has not obtained jurisdiction, a separate summons shall issue.

A pending but undetermined Petition for Setting Final Fees and Costs SB0065 EngrossedEnrolled - 20 - LRB096 03117 AJO 13133 b shall not affect appealability of any judgment or other adjudication in the original proceeding.

Quantum meruit principles shall govern any award for legal services performed that is not based on the terms of the written engagement agreement (except that, if a court expressly finds in a particular case that aggregate billings to a client were unconscionably excessive, the court in its discretion may reduce the award otherwise determined SB0065 EngrossedEnrolled - 21 - LRB096 03117 AJO 13133 b appropriate or deny fees altogether).

(5) A petition (or a praecipe for fee hearing without the petition) shall be filed no later than the end of the SB0065 EngrossedEnrolled - 22 - LRB096 03117 AJO 13133 b period in which it is permissible to file a motion pursuant to Section 2-1203 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

(d) A consent judgment, in favor of a current counsel of record against his or her own client for a specific amount in a SB0065 EngrossedEnrolled - 23 - LRB096 03117 AJO 13133 b marital settlement agreement, dissolution judgment, or any other instrument involving the other litigant, is prohibited.

No consent security arrangement between a client and a counsel of record, pursuant to which assets of a client are collateralized to secure payment of legal fees or costs, is permissible unless approved in advance SB0065 EngrossedEnrolled - 24 - LRB096 03117 AJO 13133 b by the court as being reasonable under the circumstances.

In any such case, SB0065 EngrossedEnrolled - 25 - LRB096 03117 AJO 13133 b any judgment later obtained by the former counsel shall be against both spouses or ex-spouses, jointly and severally (except that, if a hearing under subsection (j) of Section 503 has already been concluded and the court hearing the contribution issue has imposed a percentage allocation between the parties as to fees and costs otherwise being adjudicated in the independent proceeding, the allocation shall be applied without deviation by the court in the independent proceeding and a separate judgment shall be entered against each spouse for the appropriate amount).

The written engagement agreement, prepared by the counsel, shall clearly address the objectives of representation and detail the fee arrangement, SB0065 EngrossedEnrolled - 26 - LRB096 03117 AJO 13133 b including all material terms.

The counsel will keep the client reasonably informed about the status of representation and will SB0065 EngrossedEnrolled - 27 - LRB096 03117 AJO 13133 b promptly respond to reasonable requests for information, including any reasonable request for an estimate respecting future costs of the representation or an appropriate portion of it.

SB0065 EngrossedEnrolled - 28 - LRB096 03117 AJO 13133 b (5) FEES.

In an appropriate case, the client may pursue contribution to his SB0065 EngrossedEnrolled - 29 - LRB096 03117 AJO 13133 b or her fees and costs from the other party.